House Democrats are condemning
the Obama administration's plan to resume deportations of asylum seekers who've been denied refugee status – raids the lawmakers worry could negatively impact voting this November.
"This is ill-advised, ill-timed and counterproductive on anything we're talking about in terms of galvanizing our community for the upcoming elections," Arizona Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva tells
The Hill.
"When we're trying to distinguish ourselves as being more humane ... and trying to distinguish ourselves from ... the rhetoric and what [Donald] Trump is saying about this issue ... here we are carrying out and proposing to carry out these raids, which I think are a huge mistake."
Argues Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez, "These are not illegal immigrants."
"These are children, these are people fleeing violence," he tells The Hill. "They are asylum seekers."
The critics charge the new wave comes four months after the Department of Homeland Security rounded up
121 illegal immigrants – most of them women and children who came from Central America as part of the 2014 migrant surge.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, also called for the administration to "reconsider" the raids, saying in a statement the children and their famlies "are fleeing extreme violence in Central America and they should have a chance to seek relief."
Both Democratic contenders — Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders – condemned the plans as well, The Hill reports.
The department defended the operations.
"Current operations are a continuation of operations Secretary [Jeh] Johnson announced in January and March,” spokeswoman Marsha Catron tells The Hill.